MONROVIA – Former Bomi County Senator Sando Dazoe Johnson has challenged the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) led government of President George Manneh Weah to hold Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and other members of the Executive branch of her Unity Party (UP) government liable for the “irresponsible” manner and form in which they handled the Executive Mansion renovation project.
With funding provided by the Israeli government, the Executive Mansion was constructed from 1961 to 1964, during the administration of ex-Liberian President William V. S. Tubman.
The eight-storey building project was designed and supervised by Department of Public Works and Utilities (now Ministry of Public Works), and Stanley Engineering Company of Africa while the Construction Contractor was Liberian Construction Corporation (LCC).
It can be recalled that on July 26, 2006, the Executive Mansion, which is the official home of the Liberian presidency, gutted fire during Liberia’s Independence Day Celebration, destroying the Fourth Floor Central Section, accommodating the Presidential and adjoining offices, in the presence of foreign guests and dignitaries. The cause of the fire was attributed to electrical fault.
Since the unfortunate incident, nearly US$40M has been budgeted by the past and current governments for the Executive Mansion renovation.
During the Unity Party (UP) led government of ex-President Sirleaf, the amounts of US$8, 000, 000 from 2006 to 2010 was budgeted, according to a General Auditing Commission audit, US$16, 225, 417 (Fiscal Year 2016/2017), US$8, 189, 082 (Fiscal Year 2017/2018) totaling US$ 32, 414,499, while the Weah administration has budgeted US$5, 510, 000 (Fiscal Year 2018/2019), US$1, 000, 000 (Fiscal Year 2020-2021) totaling US$6, 510, 000.
But speaking in a telephone interview with FrontPage Africa recently, Mr. Johnson claimed that Madam Sirleaf leader did not exercise leadership to ensure that the Executive Mansion renovation works were completed during her tenure, despite the allocations of millions of United States dollars in separate national budgets.
When quizzed who should be held liable for the prolong delay in the completion of the Executive Mansion renovation works, Mr. Johnson stated: “You must hold Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf responsible. Her government acted very irresponsible; especially the Executive branch under Ellen. Monies were put up for the Executive Mansion renovation and they were squandered. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf should be the one to answer that question”.
He maintained that President Weah should be more proactive by ensuring the prosecution of Madam Sirleaf and other past or current government officials’ link to the project without fear or favor.
He emphasized that Madam Sirleaf “should not go free” since it has been proven that monies were allegedly squandered for the project, something which now compels the seat of the Liberian presidency to be housed in the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Ellen and her likes cannot go free after damaging this country. You have to prosecute these people. The President (Weah) should forget about friendship and go after these people”.
Mr. Johnson added that President Weah should desist from taking responsibility for the losses accrued from the past regime and ensure that people are held accountable for the actions to siphon tax payers’ monies for their personal benefits.
Set record straight
Mr. Johnson emphasized that though his consistent calls for the prosecution of Madam Sirleaf and those who allegedly mismanaged funds allocated for the project were not given credence during his days at the National Legislature, President Weah remains in a better position to do so.
He indicated that the CDC-led government will not be exempted from prosecution in the future if President Weah fails to ensure full accountability over the project.
He said the Weah-government delay to forward for prosecution those linked to shady deals pertaining to the Executive Mansion renovation project, including Madam Sirleaf will be misconstrued if he remains reluctant to take the appropriate actions.
Cover up?
Mr. Johnson noted that citizens will continue to “speculate” that President Weah wants to “cover up” for Madam Sirleaf and her likes if his government allows the matter to be swept under the carpet like other corruption cases in Liberia.
He maintained that a full audit must be conducted by the Weah led-administration to ascertain the actual amount of monies that were “squandered” and the names of those fully involved.
“We allocated monies for the renovation of the mansion and the monies were misused. We raised it and we are still raising it. If Ellen didn’t prosecute herself, which I know she couldn’t have done, President Weah has to take the opportunity to do so. He has to set the record straight to show that he means well because he cannot shield them”.
Mr. Johnson added that the separate appropriation of millions of dollars for the project by lawmakers in the 52nd, 53rd and 54th Legislatures respectively, were done in good fate, but the true essence was allegedly downplayed to the detriment of tax payers.
The audit
In early 2016, former Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf requested the General Auditing Commission (GAC) to conduct an audit into the Executive Mansion renovation project as provided for under the statutory mandate of the Auditor General under section 2.1.3 of the GAC Act of 2014.
Months later, the GAC in its findings, observed a waste of over US$10M on the Executive Mansion renovation project.
The audit covers July 1, 2006 to December 31, 2015.
On December 9, 2016, Madam Sirleaf confirmed that she has received from the GAC the audit report on renovation works at the Executive Mansion.
An Executive Mansion release issued at the time revealed that Madam Sirleaf was reviewing the report along with the Minister of State without Portfolio, Cllr. J. Fonati Koffa (now Grand Kru County Representative) to establish the necessary actions and measures to be taken.
She assured that following the review of the audit report, actions were going to be taken to ensure accountability for public resources.
No actions
Madam Sirleaf failed to act on the GAC report released and ensure the completion of the Executive Mansion renovation project until the expiration of her 12-year tenure in January 2018.
In March of this year, Liberia’s Solicitor General, Cllr. Sayma Cyrennius. Cephus, promised that his office will review the audit report and past or current government officials involved will be sent to court for prosecution.
Since his pronouncement, not enough has been done to ensure that millions of dollars budgeted for the Executive Mansion renovation works are accounted for.
The offices of President Weah continue to be housed in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building on Capitol Hill in Monrovia, and some members of the First Family residing at his private home in Thinker’s Village as a result of the current situation.
Milking cow and elephant meat
Vast majority of citizens, including lawmakers from mainly opposition political parties regularly compare the Executive Mansion renovation project to an “elephant meat” or a “milking cow” making those in higher positions, especially public officials directly involved with the project, normally “cut or get milk from” at their will and pleasure even though the alleged action remains detrimental to struggling Liberian tax payers.
Citizens and other foreign residents residing in the country continue to wonder why the Executive Mansion, which was constructed in three years, is taking a little over 15 years just to be renovated.
It remains unclear whether or not the Executive Mansion renovation project will be completed before the end of the first term of President George Manneh Weah since in fact, barrage of promises made by the Liberian Chief Executive are yet to be actualized.
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2021-05-17 04:00:26